Israeli, Turkish Ministers to Meet for First Time Since 2010 Flotilla Crisis - HAARETZ

The Mavi Marmara, aboard which Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound
flotilla resulted in the deaths of 9 Turkish activists, May 22, 2010.AP

Oct 08, 2016 9:23 PM
Barak Ravid

The meeting between the two countries' energy ministers in Istanbul was confirmed in recent days. Meanwhile, Israel and Turkey make progress toward appointing new ambassadors

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz is expected to meet his Turkish counterpart, Berat Albayrak, in Istanbul on Thursday.This will be the first official public meeting between ministers from the two countries since the crisis over the Gaza-bound flotilla broke out in May 2010.

The two countries have reached a reconciliation deal in June, which is soon to be fully implemented.

Turkey-Israel deal set to start a Middle East gas bonanza - MIDDLE EAST EYE

Aurangzeb Qureshi
Tuesday 6 September 2016 12:04 UTC

Putting past troubles behind them, both Turkey and Israel see this as the deal of the century as the Leviathan gas field comes on tap

With Turkey and Israel about to restart diplomatic relations after a six-year hiatus, it would be remiss to not mention the role of natural gas in the deal.

In 2010, Israel discovered the Leviathan gas field – a mammoth discovery of 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas worth $95 billion on its shore. The discovery has since been caught up in regulatory hurdles until June of this year. The reversal in Israel’s natural gas fortunes has naturally caught Turkey’s attention.

Turcas CEO: Israel gas will flow to Turkey by 2020 | Globes

Batu Aksoy predicts that half of the gas in Israel's Leviathan field will be exported to Turkey.

23/12/2015, Hedy Cohen

"Half of the natural gas in Leviathan, 250 BCM, is slated for Turkey in the next 20-30 years. Starting in 2020, 8 BCM of gas will flow to Turkey each year," Turcas Petrol CEO Batu Aksoy stated yesterday at a press conference in Ankara. His remarks were widely reported in the Turkish press.

"In terms of the eastern Mediterranean gas, the Turkish-Israeli friendship is based on long-lasting history. As we enter the year 2016, we are in a period where we must further enhance our connections with not only our neighbors but also world countries." For months, the owners of the rights to the Leviathan gas reservoir have been negotiating the exporting of Israel gas with Turkish companies, including Turcas and Zorlu Petrogas Petrol Gaz. As of now, however, no concrete deal is yet being discussed. Since the Marmara incident, relations between the countries have deteriorated, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has banned imports of gas from Israel. Given the difficulty in exporting Israel gas to Egypt, however, and in view of the fact that Turkey has experienced repeated disruptions in its supply of gas from Russia, both sides have expressed a desire to renew the negotiations.

Only two weeks ago, "Globes" interviewed Turcas board member Matthew Bryza, who asserted that economically and strategically, exporting gas to Turkey is currently the best option for development of the Leviathan reservoir. "We need energy and we are willing to pay for it," Byrza said, adding that exporting gas to Turkey was also the best option for Israel. "The Israeli gas that Turkey could buy from Israel will be purchased at a lower rate than its other suppliers, but still higher than the price Israel would receive from Egypt,” he claimed.

Aksoy is now officially backing this line, saying, "Israel can help Turkey become a hub" and "Turcas is part of a consortium of companies that wants to import Israeli gas and market it to customers in both Turkey and Europe."

Aksoy spoke about Turkey's need to diversify its sources of supply, and stated, "Diversification of Turkey's natural gas sources, which will include Israel, among others, will help it lower the price of energy in the country… There have been substantial gas discoveries in the Middle East… We can achieve our goals only through resource variety."

The Turkish economy's consumption of gas is seven times that of the Israeli economy, and is projected to increase sharply and double in the next 20 years. Turkey has no gas resources itself, and is being forced to import gas from Iran, Russia, and Azerbaijan. Turkey pays a high price for the gas it buys: an estimated $15 per MMbtu to Iran, $12 per MMbtu to Russia, and $10 per MMbtu to Azerbaijan.

A pipeline is cheaper than LNG

The Turcas CEO also spoke about building a gas pipeline connecting Israel and Turkey, saying that exporting through a pipeline is always cheaper than exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). He thereby hinted that exporting through the liquefaction facility in Egypt would be more expensive for Israel.

"A pipeline in the Middle East will be cheaper than exporting as LNG," Asksoy said, adding that the tension between Turkey and Russia only reinforces the need to build such a pipeline. If Israel exports gas to Turkey, it will be through an undersea pipeline from the Leviathan reservoir through Cypriot territorial waters to the southernmost place in Turkey, a distance of 485 kilometers from the reservoir.

Beyond the technical difficulties of building a pipeline in relatively deep water, another difficulty is that up until now, Cypriot prime ministers have rejected the idea, due to the tense relations between Cyprus and Turkey, which occupied the northern part of the island in 1974. Bryza commented on this in an interview, saying that the political disputes on the island were probably close to a solution, and that a referendum on the matter would be held in Cyprus next fall.

"Settling the conflict will help move the gas pipeline forward, and Cyprus will be very interested in such a pipeline," he said, adding, "Gas can be sent to Cyprus through the pipeline, and when the Aphrodite reservoir is developed, the direction of the pipe can be reversed, with gas flowing from Cyprus to Turkey," Aksoy asserted.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 236, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

SOURCE

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Same story in the Cypriot press follows:
Turkey could take Israel’s gas by 2020 | in-cyprus.com (Cyprus Weekly)
23/12/2015

The rapprochement between Israel and Turkey could see a rapid deal on gas, with the prospect of Turkey taking imports of gas from Israel by 2020, according to Turkey’s Today’s Zaman newspaper.

“We consider the Mersin port a feasible destination for Israeli gas,” the chief executive officer of Turcas Batu Aksoy told Today’s Zaman.

“The pipeline could then be connected either to the current infrastructure with some extra investment or to [the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline] TANAP, which is under construction. … The third option is to build one from scratch.”

Turkey and Israel are currently in talks on restoring official ties between the two countries after they broke down in 2010 following the Mavi Marmara incident. A final deal will not take long, a Turkish official told Reuters on Friday.

“I think that there is a serious, meaningful chance for thawing and normalising relations between Israel and Turkey. I also think that this is proof of the diplomatic value of the gas and the gas plan,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Tel Aviv radio.

The main obstacle to the long-delayed development of Israel’s giant Leviathan field was finally removed last Thursday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a gas framework agreement after invoking Article 52 of the restrictive trade practices law to bypass a ruling from antitrust authority.

Delek, which is a partner in both Leviathan and the Cyprus Aphrodite field, announced shortly thereafter that it would “carry out the necessary actions for the rapid development of the Leviathan field and the expansion of the Tamar field”.

Given the ongoing conflict in Syria and the fact that Israel does not have a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, supply of Israeli gas to Turkey would probably have to go through the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Republic of Cyprus, which has no diplomatic relations with Turkey.

Under Article 79 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), “all States are entitled to lay submarine cables and pipelines on the continental shelf”. At the same time, “The delineation of the course for the laying of such pipelines on the continental shelf is subject to the consent of the coastal State.”


However, neither Israel nor Turkey are parties to UNCLOS. Nor is the US, the home of Noble Energy, also a partner in both Leviathan and Aphrodite.

SOURCE

When Bibi's Right: How Gas Is Driving Turkey Back Into Israel's Arms | Haaretz

Dec 23, 2015
David Rosenberg

They made fun of Bibi for saying energy can be a strategic asset, but it seems access to Israeli natural gas is compelling Erdogan to overcome his aversion to the Jewish state.

They all laughed when Bibi sat down at the piano to play his song about natural gas and its vital role in enhancing Israel's national security. 

The prime minister has sounded the notes over and over again about how energy exports will form the basis of deep and lasting friendships with Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, maybe even Turkey. But this is the Middle East, his critics sneered, where the basis for alliances is politics and religion, not business and economics. Anyhow, Egypt recently found plenty of its own gas and has enough to supply Jordan, too, so they don't need Israel, they said.

The sweet smell of Israel's gas | Israel Hayom

By Boaz Bismuth, December 20, 2015 - Israelis have been preoccupied with the natural gas framework deal for many months. There were those who saw the considerable economic benefits in it, and those who chose to see the extra shekels that wouldn't trickle into the pockets of the public. In the meantime, however, another important benefit of the framework deal has revealed itself: It is a strategic asset of the utmost importance, even fostering Israeli-Turkish rapprochement.

Over the past few years we have been constantly warned of Israel's growing isolation. And here, all of a sudden, aside from Turkey we are seeing Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and even Balkan states batting their eyelashes at Israel's natural gas reservoirs. It is a good lesson for anyone who still doesn't understand that international relations aren't struck in some world leaders' club, but rather they are shaped by pure interests between states.

In today's world, it is important to have something to sell, and it is no less important to have something extra to offer. The Saudis, in stark contrast to us, have for years -- thanks to their endless supply of oil barrels -- been courted by the West despite their export of Salafism and jihadi terrorism. Israel, with its Western values, can in all likelihood expect an easier go of it than the Saudis. In a world hungry for energy, it is a bit difficult to boycott Israel when -- beyond its technological, medical and agricultural expertise -- it also has gas to export.

Israel's problem isn't expected to be regional isolation, rather the opposite: It will be how to choose between the different suitors. Among those vying for Israel's heart -- sorry, gas -- there are historical enmities (Turkey-Greece-Cyrpus), and herein lies the challenge: how to make amends with Turkey without upsetting the others.

Russia, incidentally, whose relations with Turkey have been tense since the downing of its plane over the Turkish-Syrian border last month, should be able to appreciate Israel's rapprochement with Turkey. After all, the Russians more than anyone understand that diplomatic interests are a vital element in any economic pact. It is the very essence of Russian foreign policy. In any case, Moscow cannot grumble to Israel due to the countries' shared understandings in regards to Syria, where Russia is working to keep President Bashar Assad, Iran and Hezbollah's loyal ally, in power.

This, in a nutshell, is the essence of the new Middle East. Some dream of goodwill among nations, but in reality all we can hope for is partnerships. We will have goodwill when the messiah comes. Here we have, if you will, another lesson in realpolitik.

And now to the Israeli-Turkish story: There is no doubt that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has managed to dramatically erode Israel's longtime relationship with Turkey, bringing it to unprecedented lows. We have drifted far from the Ben-Gurion era "periphery doctrine," which called for Israel to develop close strategic alliances with non-Arab Muslim states in the region (such as Iran, Turkey, Chad and Ethiopia). Erdogan began his horror show at Davos in early 2009, bad-mouthing Israel on the stage he shared with former President Shimon Peres. The low point was the Mavi Marmara incident in May of 2010. Attempts to rehabilitate relations have been made ever since. The Turks were never in a rush and issued almost impossible demands, such as lifting the Gaza blockade.

Finalizing the natural gas framework was no easy task, nor was mending ties with Turkey. It is very possible that the former expedited the latter.

How nice it is to be an Israeli, and to suddenly be courted like Saudi Arabia.

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